Novartis Awarded Summary Judgment in Alabama Aredia/Zometa Case

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — After excluding the testimony of the plaintiff’s causation expert, an Alabama federal judge has awarded Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. summary judgment on claims it failed to properly warn that its bisphosphonate drugs Aredia and Zometa can cause osteonecrosis of the jaw.

On July 2, Chief Judge W. Keith Watkins of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Arizona found the expert did not adequately consider and eliminate osteomyelitis as the cause for the onset of ONJ in the plaintiff.

Deborah Garrison accused Novartis of failing to adequately warn that Aredia and Zometa can cause ONJ. She …